Measuring Disaster Recovery: Lessons Learned from Early Recovery in Post-Tsunami Area of Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

The assessment of post-disaster recovery is often hindered by limited metric and longitudinal data, in addition to the dynamic and long-term processes. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the early stages after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, using the Disaster Recovery Index (DRI). The two initial waves of Study of Tsunami and Aftermath Recovery (STAR) data were used to track the recovery process from 5 to 19 months after the tsunami. The results showed various recovery patterns in three affected areas and five sectors. Furthermore, recovery rates in the medium and heavily damaged areas increased by 2.05 and 7.45 percentage points, respectively, with a 0.33 percentage point decrease in the lightly damaged areas. The social and livelihood sectors showed rapid progress, supported by the establishment of temporary health and education facilities, including Cash-for-Work programs. Meanwhile, other sectors experienced slower recovery due to their complexity. The application of the DRI successfully showed the relative positions across affected areas and sectors over time in a simple way. This confirmed the variety of recoveries in subgroups in the community and suggested the importance of regularly measuring progress using standard metrics to observe long-term conditions.